Some Sudanese still arming Ugandan rebels: report

KAMPALA, Sept 11, 2003 (Xinhua) — Former Lord’s Resistance Army ( LRA) rebels have confirmed the reports that some people within the Sudan are still arming the rebels, reported Radio Uganda on Thursday night.

The former rebels were giving their testimonies about the war to the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Internal Affairs which sat at Fairway Hotel in Kampala Thursday.

The ex-rebels pointed out that the war in the north will only end if the government and the international community gets tough on stopping Sudan from arming the rebels.

The LRA rebels, based in southern Sudan, have fought the Ugandan government in the last 17 years, displacing over 1 million northern Ugandans.

The ex-rebels also told the committee that the government army should tighten security around camps for internally displaced persons, because these have become rebels’ sources of food and manpower.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese embassy here has denied supplying arms to the LRA rebels.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, the embassy said it was concerned about “the pretentious and protracted media campaign on the alleged support by Sudan to the LRA.”

It said that whatever support and arms the LRA were getting, was not from the Sudan.

“The embassy is also concerned that those media reports and the perception of some government officials in Uganda are conceivably based on hearsay derived from a former LRA fighter. This cannot be a credible source and reliable evidence,” it said.

The embassy said the clear position of the Sudan had been repeatedly conveyed to the Ugandan government, warning that the reports would adversely affect the good neighborliness in the region, especially the growing ties between the Sudan and Uganda.

“The Sudanese government, while engage in historic important negotiations for the prevalence of peace within its borders, has no interest in jeopardizing that process by supporting the LRA or engaging in any other act affecting its valued bilateral relations with the sisterly Republic of Uganda,” it added.